Fiji's CCF to lobby against government's tightening of rules

The chairman of Fiji's Citizens Constitutional Forum, the reverend Akuila Yabaki, says he'll lobby against the government tightening its laws for non-government organisations.

The CCF was de-registered in 2001 for taking a case to court against the president over his dismissal of the then prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry.

Reverend Yabaki says they've entered into a dialogue with the ministry of justice about how NGOs' should be registered and what their activites would cover.

"Most NGOs are registered under the archaic Charitable Act and we would resisit that because since the coups, there has been a proliferation of NGOs which have taken a more political line - especially in terms of human rights, genderissues, workers' issues. therefore we have found the government having to catch up with the NGOs in terms of how it might respond."

The Reverend Yabaki says the CCF is close to being registered as a non-profitable company which covers the existence of the organisation until the issues are sorted